Crown
Ltd. (CWN)s planned casino in Sydney targeting
high-rolling Asian gamblers wont open until
exclusivity rights held by Echo Entertainment Group
Ltd. (EGP) expire in 2019, according to New South
Wales Premier Barry OFarrell.

The
casino and hotel at the Barangaroo development site,
west of Sydneys central business district, would
be run under the same probity and regulatory arrangements
as Echos Star complex, OFarrells
spokesman Cameron Hamilton said in an e- mailed statement
today. The rival complexes would face each other across
a stretch of Sydney Harbour.

Any
new VIP-only facility will not be operational before
the existing exclusivity agreement expires on 14 November
2019, according to the statement, made in response
to queries after the Australian Financial Review newspaper
reported Crowns complex wont require a
casino license.
So-called VIP gamblers are given perks such as free
accommodation and travel in return for gambling large
sums. Echos former owner, Tabcorp Holdings Ltd.
(TAH), paid A$100 million ($103 million) to the New
South Wales government in 2007 in return for a 12-year
license to operate Sydneys only casino.

Echo
slumped the most in more than four months in Sydney
trading, falling 4.4 percent, after the newspaper
report. The stock recovered some losses and was down
1.8 percent at A$3.595 as of 12:37 p.m.

Martin
Debelle, an external spokesman for Echo at Citadel
Communications in Sydney, said he had no immediate
comment. Karl Bitar, a Crown spokesman, didnt
immediately return a mobile- phone message and an
e-mail seeking comment.